There’s been an awful lot of talk about extending the division series from five to seven games recently. The Boston Globe’s Nick Cafardo suggests doing the opposite:

With the season getting too long, how about cutting the Division Series from five to three games and the League Championship Series from seven to five games? Teams with the best pitching would be rewarded in the Division Series because they’d be able to use their top three starters. Of course, there would always be upsets, which is fine, too . . . Baseball should not reduce its regular season from 162 games – you wouldn’t want to compromise all the numbers associated with the modern era – but tweaking the postseason might create more excitement in shorter series.

Compromising the modern era? Assuming he means the post-deadball era, does he not realize that baseball had a 154 game season for 41 years of that period, most of which people refer to as baseball’s “Golden Age?” No, I don’t really want to shrink the season down either — I prefer more scheduled doubleheaders — and I don’t believe that the 40s and 50s really were the Golden Age, but you can’t tell me that making a best of three playoff series is preferable to lopping off a week’s worth of games.

A best of three series would make a mockery of the first round. If the schedule is so important, baseball would be better served by simply eliminating the first round.

Hernandez, 18, was signed by the Angels as an international free agent out of Venezuela in July 2015. This past year, in rookie ball, Hernandez posted a 2.64 ERA with a 44/22 K/BB ratio in 44 1/3 innings. MLB Pipeline rated him the Angels’ 24th-best prospect.

Montgomery, 23, was selected by the Angels in the eighth round of the 2016 draft. Between Single-A Burlington, High-A Inland Empire, and Double-A Mobile, Montgomery batted an aggregate .271/.358/.413 with eight home runs, 38 RBI, 62 runs scored, and 15 stolen bases in 434 plate appearances. MLB Pipeline rated him as the Angels’ 20th-best prospect.

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Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic reports that the Angels will acquire second baseman Ian Kinsler from the Tigers. It is not known yet what the Tigers will receive in return. Kinsler had to waive his no-trade clause in order for the deal to happen.

Kinsler, 35, hit .236/.313/.412 with 22 home runs, 52 RBI, 90 runs scored, and 14 stolen bases in 613 plate appearances for the Tigers this past season. He’s in the final year of his contract and will earn $10 million for the 2018 season.

The Angels were certainly looking to upgrade at second base and did so with Kinsler. They were also reportedly interested in Cesar Hernandez of the Phillies.